The Soviet contribution to the Italia search and rescue, 1928

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Barr, William
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1977
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Arctic; Svalbard; Norway; Sedov; Krasin; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400001224; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400001224

The story of the crash of Nobile's dirigible Italia to the north of Svalbard in 1928 and of the complex and often confused multi-national search for the survivors which ensued has become one of the best known themes in the history of Arctic exploration, and One which has given rise to a small library of books weighing every aspect of the story. While the role of the Soviet icebreaker Krasin in this story, as the vessel which reached and rescued the main group of survivors, has become world famous, it is not generally realized that Krasin's voyage represented only one facet of a multi-pronged Soviet assault, aimed at rescuing the Italia survivors. Two other vessels, Malygin and Sedov , were also involved in the search, in each case representing the first voyage for these vessels into the northern Arctic under the Soviet flag. Later, after a refit in Norway, Krasin made a second voyage in the autumn of 1928 to Svalbard and Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa, still in search of any possible survivors from Nobile's Italia . This article will stress in particular these lesser known aspects of the Soviet rescue operation.